Letters to the editor: Smell the coffee

As one old enough to recall the character assassinations directed towards President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration during the 1930s I see the same snide, crude remarks being made today against President Barack Obama.

President Roosevelt, who gave us Social Security, collective bargaining for labor, the repeal of prohibition, Works Projects Administration (WPA) to put the unemployed back to work, the CCC's to give young men a new outlook on life and much more.

Yet he was the object of crude jokes, a socialist, a fascist, a traitor to his class, on and on. Even the president's wife, Eleanor, was the target of these nay sayers.

We see more and more of the same these days as evidenced by the recent letter to the Sun Advocate (Feb.16, 2010 issue) by Richard L Warren of East Carbon. Rather than show some respect for the president, Mr. Warren refers to Pres. Obama as Berry Hussein Sotero, a socialist liberal. Now Pres. Obama was known as Barry Obama in his youth, not Berry as Mr. Warren writes.

In talking about deficits, let's look at the record of recent presidents. Ronald Reagan came in and ran deficits all eight years of his administration, something the senior Bush had to contend with. Clinton came in and finally balanced the budget and actually showed a surplus which the younger Bush promptly washed away with his tax cuts for the well-to-do and his ill advised invasion of Iraq,costing billions of dollars. This is the inheritance Pres. Obama came into and face arrogant accusations from people such as Mr. Warren.

In all due respect to Mr. Warren's views, all I can say to him is: "Wake up and smell the coffee."